Baal

Storm-god, Rider on the Clouds, and king of the active gods at Ugarit; enthroned on Mount Zaphon after defeating Yam and Mot.

Parentage

• paternal: Dagan

Children

• Arsay
• Pidray
• Tallay

Domains

• storm
• kingship
• fertility rain

Powers

• Loose the thunderstorm, lightning, and rains
• Smite and destroy the sea-god Yam in single combat
• Die into the underworld and rise again with the rains

Epithets

• rkb ʿrpt ugaritic · rakib ʿarapati · literaryRider on the Clouds; the standard formulaic epithet of the storm-godBaal Cycle, KTU 1.2 IV.8; 1.3 II.40 (cf. Ps 68:5) (primary)
• ʾalʾiyn bʿl ugaritic · ʾalʾiyan baʿlu · literaryMightiest Baal / Baal the Powerful; his constant heroic titleBaal Cycle, KTU 1.3-1.6 (recurrent formula) (primary)
• zbl bʿl ʾarṣ ugaritic · zabul baʿlu ʾarṣi · literaryPrince, Lord of the Earth; Baal as the reigning king of the active godsBaal Cycle, KTU 1.3 I.3-4; 1.4 VIII (primary)
• bʿl ṣpn ugaritic · baʿlu Ṣapuni · cultBaal of (Mount) Zaphon; the storm-god enthroned on his holy mountainKTU 1.47; 1.118 (Ugaritic god-lists); offering texts (primary)

Relations

• enemy: LotanThe seven-headed serpent of Yam's household, killed by Baal. Reciprocal added with the Lotan record, which had been absent from the registry although its Hebrew descendant Leviathan was present.Reference treatment of Lotan: a seven-headed sea dragon, servant of the sea god Yam, defeated by the storm god Baal, possibly with the help or by the hand of Anat. (secondary)
• equated with: HadadUgaritic Baal IS Haddu/Hadad — 'Baal' (lord) is the title that displaced the name; the Aramean Hadad continues the same god. One storm-god across dialect lines; the Aramean cult centers on Aleppo.D. Schwemer, Wettergottgestalten (2001); M. S. Smith, The Early History of God (2nd ed. 2002) (secondary)
• interpretatio: SetNew Kingdom scribes render Levantine Baal as Seth (Seth-Baal of Avaris). Preserves the violent storm-power; a striking break — Egypt maps the Levant's beneficent rain-king onto its own god of chaos.Egyptian-Hittite treaty of Ramesses II (storm-gods written as Seth); cf. the Four Hundred Years Stela (primary); H. te Velde, Seth, God of Confusion (1967) (secondary)
• equated with: TeshubReciprocal of hurrian_teshub.equated-with — In Ugarit's Hurrian-language cult texts Teshub holds Baal's place; both are cloud-riding storm-kings enthroned on a northern mountain who defeat the Sea. Baal adds the death-and-return cycle Teshub lacks.D. Schwemer, Wettergottgestalten (2001); M. S. Smith, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle I (1994) (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Ugaritic Baal Cycle (KTU 1.1–1.6) (primary); Philo of Byblos / Sanchuniathon (Demarous/Adodos = Hadad), via Eusebius (primary)